Yemeni Government Ready to Resume Humanitarian Aid Delivery

Aden – Yemeni Minister of Local Administration and head of the High Relief Commission, Abd al-Raqib Fatah, said his country’s legitimate government was ready to resume the delivery of humanitarian aid to the besieged city of Taiz and other war-torn areas.

He also expressed the government’s hope that Houthi militias would commit to the ceasefire, which was called for by the United Nations earlier this week.

In exclusive remarks to Asharq al-Awsat newspaper on Tuesday, the Yemeni minister said that should the rebels abide by the terms of the ceasefire and allow the access of food and medicine to the city of Taiz, the High Relief Commission will be fully ready to transfer relief convoys through Aden or through other governorates that are under the insurgents’ control.

Fatah added that the delivery of humanitarian aid would be coordinated with King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Work (KSRELIEF), the Emirates Red Crescent, Qatar Red Crescent, Qatar Charity and Kuwait Joint Relief Committee.

The United States, Britain and the United Nations called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Yemen to begin on Wednesday night.

The international call for a 72-hour truce came during a meeting on Yemen held in London on Sunday, in the presence of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister Adel Al-Jubeir, U.A.E. Foreign Affairs Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and U.N. Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

The conflict in Yemen has killed almost 6,900 people, wounded more than 35,000 and displaced at least three million since March last year, according to the United Nations.